Hugh Laurie as a new father, Colin Firth as a lothario, Brooke Shields as a
giddy housewife… Meet the photographer who likes to catch performers in the
act

Photography may beHoward Schatz’s art form of choice but his latest project came about thanks to a second talent, discovered – almost accidentally – in his New York studio: directing.

“When I shoot portraits I often ask people to imagine they’re in a certain scenario, to make them change or move differently,” Schatz tells me. “I’ve been doing that for 20 years but with most people it’s a scene they’re comfortable with. Then I photographed a few actors and started to direct them in crazy, strange, wild scenarios. They loved the challenge of being asked to instantly improvise.”

Schatz’s experiment led to his 2006 book In Character: Actors Acting, a collection of photographs of Hollywood’s finest caught mid-improv. But he wasn’t satisfied. “I’m very curious about invention, imagination and creativity,” he says. “How a human uses his body and voice to take ink on paper and become a character from another world.”

So he spent the next six years creating a second, more comprehensive title, Caught in the Act: Actors Acting, containing not only improvised shots, but also a candid interview with each actor about their work, and a “serious portrait. One that was about veracity versus vanity.” Schatz worked with around 85 actors, from Sir Ben Kingsley to John Malkovich to Michael Douglas, spending up to four hours with each.

Interviews, which revealed each subject’s approach to acting (and, more often than not, their obsessions and insecurities, too) took place in a small room across a narrow table, before Schatz turned the camera on his subjects and began reading out scenarios from cue cards.

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Created by Schatz and one of his co-authors Owen Edwards (the other is Schatz’s wife, Beverly J Ornstein), the scenes were tailored to each subject to include “some things they already did in their work, and some things they never did. I wanted to challenge them to make images that would surprise them,” Schatz explains.

Watching each actor receive their parts fascinated Schatz. Ricky Gervais stared back at him, acknowledging each new line with a curt nod; Jason Schwartzman twitched and fidgeted; Kingsley simply listened calmly, eyes downcast. And the responses themselves were just as varied, says Schatz. “Some of them would make up lines. Sissy Spacek was incredible – words came out of her mouth almost as if she weren’t thinking. Some would make sounds, others would make no sound at all.” Schatz did, however, discern one trend. “It’s probably an exaggeration,” he says, “but I felt that the British actors took my scenarios more seriously, with a more academic, formal interest, whereas the Americans were looser, wilder – a bit more cowboy.”

Over time, Schatz honed his practice, dismissing scenarios that were too subtle or too close to home (asking Amy Poehler to be a woman similar in age and background to herself, having wild sex, resulted in a downward spiral of giggles). And when actors got stuck, he was only too happy to direct. “I would throw in ideas,” recalls Schatz. “How about your character is more timid or more pathological? How about the other character wants to kill you?”

Many of his subjects told Schatz that he had “terrific abilities” as a director, but he has no intention of abandoning his first love. “I’ve been working on a 25-year retrospective book and it’s made me realise that there is still so much I want to do,” he says. “Film, theatre and television does interest me, but I still just want to make images.”

The roleplay challenge: read the stories behind the shoots

BrookeShields "Brooke lives around the corner from my SoHo studio, so her husband and two daughters came with her. When I gave her this scenario I could tell that it was real for her; she was envisaging her actual husband making a fool of himself and started laughing her head off. We had such a happy time that she came back to pose for me for a different project."

HughLaurie "I gave this scenario to other actors. Some of them were exasperated; others were exhausted. Hugh was the only one that came up with this idea. It was original and unique and it surprised me. He’s a very bright fellow."

ColinFirth "Colin told me that, when he’s acting, he’s feels like an infantile, chaotic mess on the inside, which was surprising from such a serious actor. But it was clear he’s been working and training and schooling himself since forever; I gave him the scenario and this respectful family man suddenly became an unctuous, awful guy right in front of my eyes. This face was just perfect."

SaffronBurrows "I’m very proud of having invented this scenario – it’s complicated and sophisticated. Why was she married to this guy? Was she really in love? Was she thinking of money? Saffron totally understood what it was all about. She got up and started to move and I told her to let the Police song that she was imagining play to the end. I must have gotten about 50 pictures of her dancing."

PeterDinklage "When I worked with Peter, his wife – who is of normal height – was pregnant and we had a real heart-to-heart about what he would have done if her ultrasound had shown achondroplasia in the foetus (which it hadn’t). He was very real and serious. But when it came to the acting – well, you can see how free he was! After a few shots, some actors repeat themselves, but every picture I took of Peter was different."

PierceBrosnan "Pierce told me that he sometimes feels fraudulent, like he doesn’t belong in the acting community, and that, despite all of his work, he isn’t quite “there yet”. But he was great – a fantastic listener. I gave him the part and he sat there with his head down, arms folded, processing what I’d said. Then suddenly he burst forth and totally became the character."